Insurers' IT play not an issue: IRDA

HYDERABAD: IRDA chairman J Hari Narayan isn���t too perturbed about investments made by insurers in the IT space, despite intense World Bank heat on Satyam and Wipro. The AA rating is good enough for insurers to take exposure in IT companies, says the IRDA boss.

"Insurers are required to adhere to the AA (read: double A) rating for investing in equities of any company and that is good enough even for IT companies. Wipro���s blacklisting by the World Bank is no cause for jitters. The company was blacklisted a few years ago. Hence there should not be any worries," Insurance Regulatory Development Authority chairman Mr J Hari Narayan told ET.

"We have called for information on the exposure of insurers in Satyam. The Wipro case and other companies that may have been blacklisted is no call for concern, at least for now," he added.

"At IRDA, we don���t intend to introduce any upper investment limit in so far as exposure in the IT sector by insurance companies goes. Insurers will keep investing as per current guidelines," said Mr Hari Narayan.